U.S. patent application number 13/614686 was filed with the patent office on 2014-03-13 for location driven appraisal data extraction, past appraisal and value comparison and comparable property finder.
This patent application is currently assigned to Fannie Mae. The applicant listed for this patent is Nathan P. Den Herder, Nathan Lande, Eric Rosenblatt, John Brevard Sigman. Invention is credited to Nathan P. Den Herder, Nathan Lande, Eric Rosenblatt, John Brevard Sigman.
Application Number | 20140074732 13/614686 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50234365 |
Filed Date | 2014-03-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140074732 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Den Herder; Nathan P. ; et
al. |
March 13, 2014 |
LOCATION DRIVEN APPRAISAL DATA EXTRACTION, PAST APPRAISAL AND VALUE
COMPARISON AND COMPARABLE PROPERTY FINDER
Abstract
A method for location triggered home evaluation for an
electronic device that determines a location of the electronic
device and identifies a subject property associated with the
location. Further, a set of appraisal information for the subject
property that includes a listing of comparable properties
determined to be appropriate comparable properties for the subject
property is requested.
Inventors: |
Den Herder; Nathan P.;
(Falls Church, VA) ; Sigman; John Brevard;
(McLean, VA) ; Lande; Nathan; (Arlington, VA)
; Rosenblatt; Eric; (Derwood, MD) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Den Herder; Nathan P.
Sigman; John Brevard
Lande; Nathan
Rosenblatt; Eric |
Falls Church
McLean
Arlington
Derwood |
VA
VA
VA
MD |
US
US
US
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Fannie Mae
Washington
DC
|
Family ID: |
50234365 |
Appl. No.: |
13/614686 |
Filed: |
September 13, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/306 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/306 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 99/00 20060101
G06Q099/00 |
Claims
1. A method for location triggered home evaluation for an
electronic device, comprising: determining, by a location
determination technology of the electronic device, a location of
the electronic device; identifying a subject property associated
with the location; requesting a set of appraisal information for
the subject property that initiates at least one search of a
geographic region for comparable properties, the geographic region
being based on a variable boundary respective to the location; and
receiving the set of appraisal information, the set of appraisal
information including a ranked listing of the comparable
properties.
2. (canceled)
3. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, wherein the comparable properties include app-chosen
comparable properties and model chosen comparable properties.
4. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, further comprising: generating application information
based on the subject property, the application information
including value history information for subject property and at
least one of the comparable properties.
5. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, wherein the set of appraisal information further includes
information relative to the ranked listing of the comparable
properties based on the property data that is within the geographic
region.
6. (canceled)
7. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, wherein identifying a subject property associated with the
location comprises: correlating a physical location with addressed
information.
8. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, further comprising: selecting properties that are
appropriate for the subject property by a heuristic from a property
pool within the geographic region after the at least one search is
initiated to generate the comparable properties.
9. A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer
readable medium including a set of computer-executable
instructions, the instructions comprising instructions for:
directing a location determination technology to determine a
location of the electronic device; identifying a subject property
associated with the location; requesting a set of appraisal
information for the subject property that initiates at least one
search of a geographic region for comparable properties, the
geographic region being based on a variable boundary respective to
the location; and receiving the set of appraisal information, the
set of appraisal information including a ranked listing of the
comparable properties.
10. (canceled)
11. The computer program product according to claim 9, wherein the
comparable properties include app-chosen comparable properties and
model chosen comparable properties.
12. The computer program product according to claim 9, further
comprising: generating application information based on the subject
property, the application information including value history
information for subject property and at least one of the comparable
properties.
13. The computer program product according to claim 9, wherein the
set of appraisal information further includes information relative
to the ranked listing of the comparable properties based on the
property data that is within the geographic region.
14. (canceled)
15. The computer program product according to claim 9, wherein
identifying a subject property associated with the location
comprises: correlating a physical location with addressed
information.
16. The computer program product according to claim 9, further
comprising: selecting properties that are appropriate for the
subject property by a heuristic from a property pool within the
geographic region after the at least one search is initiated to
generate the comparable properties.
17. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, further comprising: displaying the geographic region
including the variable boundary via a map of an interface; altering
the variable boundary of the geographic region based on a
customization input to generate a second boundary, the
customization input identifying the second boundary on the map; and
initiating at least one search of a second geographic region for
supplemental comparable properties, the second geographic region
being based on the second boundary.
18. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, wherein the variable boundary is based on a radial zone
generated by a predefined radius extending from a center that
aligns with the subject property and is adjusted to follow
pre-defined boundaries.
19. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 1, wherein identifying that the subject property is
associated with the location includes: performing a confirmation
operation that verifies that an individual postal address matches
the location, wherein the individual postal address identifies the
subject property.
20. The method for location triggered home evaluation according to
claim 7, wherein the location is a physical location identified by
an electronic signature, and correlating the physical location with
the address information includes: matching at least one individual
postal address from an address database to the physical
location.
21. The computer program product according to claim 1, further
comprising: displaying the geographic region including the variable
boundary via a map of an interface; altering the variable boundary
of the geographic region based on a customization input to generate
a second boundary, the customization input identifying the second
boundary on the map; and initiating at least one search of a second
geographic region for supplemental comparable properties, the
second geographic region being based on the second boundary.
22. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein the
variable boundary is based on a radial zone generated by a
predefined radius extending from a center that aligns with the
subject property and is adjusted to follow pre-defined
boundaries.
23. The computer program product according to claim 1, wherein
identifying that the subject property is associated with the
location includes: performing a confirmation operation that
verifies that an individual postal address matches the location,
wherein the individual postal address identifies the subject
property.
24. The computer program product according to claim 15, wherein the
location is a physical location identified by an electronic
signature, and correlating the physical location with the address
information includes: matching at least one individual postal
address from an address database to the physical location.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This application relates generally to a location driven
property model for evaluating a subject property, and more
particularly to location driven appraisal data extraction, past
appraisal and value comparison, and comparable property finder.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Valuation models have been developed to estimate property
values. A typical valuation model performs estimations based upon
predetermined inflexible geographical area. This may not be
especially useful for particular applications. For example, the
typical valuation models are limited to market searches of homes
for sale based on geographic proximity. Such a limited search would
either miss relevant comparable sales or include irrelevant
comparables sales (or both) and lead to inaccurate valuations.
[0005] Thus, there is a need for a sophisticated heuristic
mathematical construct that estimates a property value using more
than geographic proximity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention relates to location triggered home
evaluation. In one example, an electronic device performs a
location triggered home evaluation by determining a location of the
electronic device and identifies a subject property associated with
the location. Further the electronic device requests and receives a
set of appraisal information, including a listing of comparable
properties determined to be appropriate for the subject property,
to evaluate the subject property.
[0007] The described may be embodied in various forms, including
business processes, computer implemented methods, computer program
products, computer systems and networks, user interfaces,
application programming interfaces, and the like.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] These and other more detailed and specific features of the
described are more fully disclosed in the following specification,
reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a
location triggered home evaluation process;
[0010] FIGS. 2A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of a
location triggered home evaluation application;
[0011] FIGS. 3A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of a
system in which a location triggered home evaluation application
operates;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of a
location triggered home evaluation process; and
[0013] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of a
location triggered home evaluation process.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0014] In the following description, for purposes of explanation,
numerous details are set forth, such as flowcharts and system
configurations, to provide an understanding of one or more
embodiments. However, it is and will be apparent to one skilled in
the art that these specific details are not required to practice
the described invention.
[0015] The present invention provides an application for a tablet,
a smartphone, a laptop, or a similar device that uses location
determination technology and numerous data sources (e.g., multiple
prior values of a particular home's value and data included in
appraisals about a subject or comparable properties) to provide
information about the subject property.
[0016] For instance, a uniform residential appraisal report
(appraisal) is a form that provides information about a subject
property, such as, square footage, number of units, year built,
appliances, foundation, exterior description, etc. Yet, although
appraisals are extremely useful in evaluating a subject property,
appraisals may not always be easily accessible. Thus, the
application uses location determination technology to identify a
subject property and retrieve the subject property's appraisal.
Further, the application extracts information from the appraisal
and enhance the extracted information by gleaning information from
MLS listings, GIS data, or other statements about the subject
property.
[0017] The application may also trigger a search based on the
location determination technology to find comparable properties
that are similar across home characteristics. Such characteristics
include number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, neighborhood, etc.
The application may also provide value and appraisal history for
the subject property based on collected past value and valuation
data. Further, the application may also generate or retrieve a
local pricing index to provide a benchmark for over or under
valuations.
[0018] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a
location triggered home evaluation process 100. Location
determination technology of an electronic device determines 101 a
current location of the electronic device. Using the current
location the process identifies 102 a subject property, for
instance by way of address association, and using a confirmation
operation, the process may confirm that the correct address and
subject property were associated with the current location. With
the subject property correctly identified, the process requests 103
appraisal information for the subject property. The appraisal
information should include a comparable properties list where each
comparable property was determined to be appropriate for the
subject property based on a heuristic mathematical construct and
information relative to the comparable properties list. Further,
the comparable properties list may be a ranked listing, where the
rank of each comparable property is based on that comparable
property's closeness to the subject property. Further, the
appraisal may include value history information for subject and at
least one of the comparable properties.
[0019] Once the appraisal information is received 104, the process
uses the appraisal information to evaluate 105 the subject
property. Alternatively to receiving the appraisal information, the
process may generate the property information independent of
requesting and receiving external information based on the subject
property.
[0020] A preferred way of implementing the location triggered home
evaluation process 100 is by using a tablet computer, with a
location triggered home evaluation application installed thereon.
However, the tablet computer is not the only contemplated computer
system. Any computer system, such as a laptop computer, a handheld
portable computer, or a desktop computer (e.g., tablets, PDAs, cell
phones, mobile phones, smart-phones, super-phones, and the like),
may be used. The computer system runs any conventional operating
system through the interaction of the processor (a central or
graphics processing unit) and a memory to carry out the described
functionality by execution of computer instructions. Operating
systems may include but are not limited to iOS, Android, Windows,
UNIX, Linux, Macintosh, or the like. The computer system may
further implement applications that facilitate calculations, such
as the heuristic mathematical construct described below.
[0021] The memory may be any memory suitable for storing data, such
as any volatile or non-volatile memory, whether virtual or
permanent, or any other non-transitory computer readable medium
(e.g., compact disk, hard disk, and the like). Preferably, the
memory stores the location triggered home evaluation application,
which comprises program code that is executable by the processor to
perform operations in support of subject evaluation. Further, the
operations described herein may be implemented on any conventional
network (e.g., cellular network, global area network, wireless
local area networks, wide area networks, local area networks, or
combinations thereof, but is not limited thereto) that will be
readily apparent to the artisan and need not be named herein.
[0022] Therefore, the location triggered home evaluation
application is preferably provided as software on the computer
system described above, yet it may alternatively be hardware,
firmware, or any combination of software, hardware, and firmware.
Still other embodiments include computer implemented processes
described in connection with the figures. Further, an artisan will
readily recognize the various alternative programming languages and
execution platforms that are and will become available, and the
described is not limited to any specific execution environment.
Thus according to one aspect, the location triggered home
evaluation process 100 is implemented in an application that
comprises program code stored on a non-transitory computer readable
medium executable to perform operations of the location triggered
home evaluation process 100.
[0023] FIGS. 2A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of a
location triggered home evaluation application. Specifically, FIG.
2A is a block diagram illustrating an example of an electronic
device 210 that comprises a location triggered home evaluation
application 200A stored on a memory 212 and constructed from
program code that is executable by a central processing unit (CPU)
211 to perform operations of a location triggered home evaluation
process 100. Alternatively, the electronic device 210 may be any of
the computer systems described above, and further the location
triggered home evaluation application 200A may be implemented in
any of the conventional networks described above or represented
below.
[0024] The application 200A is configured to provide a location
triggered home evaluation by determining a location of the
electronic device and identifying a subject property associated
with the location. Further, the application 200A requests and
receives a set of appraisal information to evaluate the subject
property. The example of the application 200A of FIG. 2A includes a
property data access module 201, a regression module 202, an
appraisal information module 203, a location determination module
204, and a user interface module 205. Although one modular
breakdown of the application 200A is offered, it should be
understood that the same functionality may be provided using fewer,
greater, or differently named modules.
[0025] The property data access module 201 includes program code
for carrying out access to and management of the property data,
whether from resources internal or external to the electronic
device 210. The property data access module 201 also includes
program code for managing and corresponding appraisal information,
and works with the regression module 202 and the user interface
module 205 to rank the comparable properties and display on a
display device a text listing of the comparable properties
according to the rankings.
[0026] The regression module 202 includes program code for modeling
the accessed property data, according to a heuristic mathematical
construct described herein, to produce corresponding results such
as the determination of regression coefficients and other data, as
appropriate for the subject property. Further, the regression
module 202 is also configured to apply exclusion rules to and to
calculate adjustment factors for the individual comparable
properties. The regression module 203 may also calculate the
economic distance and the weight the comparable property in
reference to the subject property.
[0027] For example, modeling may comprise carrying out the
regression upon the accessed property data and weighting the
accessed property data based upon each individual property data
point's appropriateness for the subject property. Further,
weighting the accessed property data may be based upon a set of
factors computed by the regression module 202 from explanatory
variables extracted from the accessed property data and associated
with subject property and comparable properties. For instance, once
the property data is accessed by the property data access module
201, the regression module 202 performs a regression to model the
relationship between price and explanatory variables.
[0028] The following hedonic regression is one example of heuristic
mathematical construct or one possible hedonic model, and an
ordinarily skilled artisan will readily recognize that various
different variables may be used in conjunction with the present
invention. In general, a hedonic regression is performed at a
geographic level (e.g., county, census tract, etc.) sufficient to
produce reliable results. In modeling the accessed property data
using a hedonic equation, the dependent variable is a sale price
and the explanatory variables may include the physical
characteristics, such as gross living area, lot size, age, number
of bedrooms, and number of bathrooms, as well as location specific
effects, time of sale specific effects, property condition effect
(or a proxy thereof). In this particular example, the dependent
variable is the logged sale price. The explanatory variables are
(1) four continuous property characteristics: (a) log of gross
living area (GLA), (b) log of Lot Size, (c) log of Age, and (d)
Number of Bathrooms; and (2) three fixed effect variables: (a)
location fixed effect (e.g., by Census Block Group (CBG)), (b) Time
fixed effect (e.g., measured by 3-month periods (quarters) counting
back from the estimation date), and (c) Foreclosure status fixed
effect, which captures the maintenance condition and possible REO
discount. The exemplary equation (Eq. 1) is as follows:
ln ( p ) = .beta. gla ln ( GLA ) + .beta. lot ln ( LOT ) + .beta.
age ln ( AGE ) + .beta. bath BATH ++ i = 1 N CBG LOC i CBG + j = 1
N QTR TIME j + k = { 0 , 1 } FCL k + ( Eq . 1 ) ##EQU00001##
The above equation is offered as an example, and as noted, there
may be departures. For example, although CBG is used as the
location fixed effect, other examples may include Census Tract or
other units of geographical area. Additionally, months may be used
in lieu of quarters, or other periods may be used regarding the
time fixed effect. These and other variations may be used for the
explanatory variables.
[0029] Additionally, although the county may be used for the
relatively large geographic area for which the regression analysis
is performed, other areas such as a multi-county area, state,
metropolitan statistical area, or others may be used. Still
further, some hedonic models may omit or add different explanatory
variables.
[0030] Using the hedonic regression, a pool of comparable
properties is identified, such as by initial exclusion rules based
upon characteristic similarities and other factors in relation to a
subject property. That is, the hedonic regression uses comparable
selection rules to narrow the pool of comparable properties in
excluding the properties that are determined to be insufficiently
similar to the subject. A comparable property should be located in
a relative vicinity of the subject property (which was identified
by the location determination module 204) and should be sold
relatively recently; it should also be of similar size and age and
sit on a commensurate parcel of land. The "N" comparable properties
that pass through the exclusion rules are used for further analysis
and value prediction. For example, the following rules may be used
to exclude comparable properties pursuant to narrowing the pool:
[0031] (1) Neighborhood: comps must be located in the Census Tract
of the subject and its immediate neighboring tracts; [0032] (2)
Time: comps must be sales within twelve months of the effective
date of appraisal or sale; [0033] (3) GLA must be within a defined
range, for example:
[0033] 2 3 .ltoreq. GLA S GLA C .ltoreq. 3 2 ; ##EQU00002## [0034]
(4) Age similarity may be determined according to the following
Table 1:
TABLE-US-00001 [0034] TABLE 1 Subject Age 0-2 3-5 6-10 11-20 21-40
41-65 65+ Acceptable Comp Age 0-5 0-10 2-20 5-40 11-65 15-80
45+;
and [0035] (5) Lot size similarity may be determined according to
the following Table 2:
TABLE-US-00002 [0035] TABLE 2 Subject Lot size <2000 sqft
2000-4000 sqft 4000 sqft-3 acres >3 acres Accept- able Comp Lot
1-4000 sqft 1-8000 sqft 2 5 .ltoreq. LOT S LOT C .ltoreq. 5 2
##EQU00003## >1 acre
These exclusion rules are provided by way of example. There may be
a set of exclusion rules that add variables, that omit one or more
of the described variables, or that use different thresholds or
ranges.
[0036] A set of adjustments for each comparable property is
determined using adjustment factors drawn from the regression
analysis. These adjustments are then used by the regression module
202 to derive an economic distance between each comparable property
and the subject property. For example, the economic distance may be
a value indicative of the estimated price difference between a
comparable property and the subject that is determined from the set
of adjustments for that comparable property. The comparable
properties are then weighted according to the economic distance,
physical distance, and time (of sale) between the comparable
property and the subject property.
[0037] The appraisal information module 203 includes program code
for creating, manipulating, associating, and processing uniform
residential appraisal report (appraisal) forms that provide
information about a subject property. The appraisal information
module 203 may work in connection with the property data access
module 201 to retrieve appraisals for a subject, to supply
appraisals that were recently created by the electronic device to
external resources, and to retrieve and produce the property data
for the application 200A. Further, the appraisal and information
related to the appraisal may be retrieved based upon a variety of
criteria defined by the appraisal information module 203, including
searches by subject property, identification number, or
characteristics (appraiser ID, vendor, date, etc.).
[0038] The location determination module 204 includes program code
for location functions of the electronic device. That is, the
location determination module 204 triggers a search based on a
location determination to find comparable properties that are
similar across subject property characteristics. For instance, the
location determination module 204 operates to correlate a physical
location of an electronic device with addressed information. The
location determination module 204 determines the physical location
using any location determination technology, such as time of flight
(measuring distance by the time of propagation of pulsed signals,
e.g. global positioning systems), spatial scan (triangulating using
a beacon and sensor), inertial sensing (measuring position with an
accelerometer), phase difference (measuring the shift in phase for
incoming signals), or a hybrid thereof. Some of these technologies
may be referred to as network-based, handset-based, or SIM-based
technologies. Regardless of the colloquial term, any of the
numerous location determination technologies that would be readily
apparent to an artisan may be employed by the location
determination module 204.
[0039] Further, it is preferred that the location determination
technology is activated upon request. When activated, the location
determination technology initiates a search based on a predefined
radius, which is variable based on the geographic region, from the
physical location. Geographic regions may be defined by any means
(Census Division, postal codes, counties, etc.). Further, the
geographic regions may be defined by the type of neighborhood. That
is, the predefined radius may be defined as 25 miles for rural
areas (or any dimension greater than junior zones). 5 miles for
suburban areas (any dimension between the senior and junior zones),
and 0.25 mile for urban areas (any dimension less than the senior
zones). When the physical location is determined to be in a
suburban area (which is an intermediary zone), the location
determination module 204 uses the defined radius of 5 miles to
generate a radial zone with the physical location at the center.
The generation of the radial zone triggers the regression module
202 to run the process 100. In addition, the radial zone may be
pre-defined to follow pre-determined boundaries. For instance, when
a property is located on a school border, the radial zone may sever
the portion of the zone that crosses the school zone boundary, such
that properties in the other school zone are excluded. This
exclusion rule may be applied using any pre-determined
boundaries.
[0040] Alternatively, the location based technology may
continuously run for a predetermined idle time, and only after a
pre-determined idle time may the location based technology
deactivate to conserve battery life. Once the location
determination module 204 determines the physical location of the
electronic device, the location determination module 204 correlates
the physical location with addressed information by using
conventional mapping algorithms and mapping databases.
[0041] The user interface module 205 includes program code for
managing the display and receipt of information from a user to
provide the described functionality and permits user management of
the results of the application 200A. Further, the user interface
module 205 permits the application 200A to be displayed on a
display device in a map, menu, icon, tabular, or grid format, with
various functional representations according to a module's required
functionality. That is, the user interface is configured to provide
mapping and analytical tools that implement the location triggered
home evaluation application's mapping features. For example, a
prompt may provide a single click button for immediate detection of
a physical location while suggesting multiple addresses that may be
the current physical location, such that a user may review the
automatic address suggestions by the location triggered home
evaluation application 200A and choose either one of the suggested
addresses or immediate detection of a physical location by the
location determination module 204. Based on the user selection, the
user interface module 205 provides the appropriate mapping and
analytical tool.
[0042] Additionally, a table or grid of data may concurrently be
displayable by the user interface module 205 on a display device so
that a user can readily obtain the results of the location
triggered evaluation. Further, the table view allows the user to
sort the list of properties based on of the above defined property
characteristics, rankings, or any other dimensions. The rows in the
table may be connected to the full database entry through the
property data access module 201 and the appraisal information
module 203, as well as the related additional market resources 320
defined below. Combined with the map view, this allows for a
convenient yet comprehensive interactive analysis of a subject
property.
[0043] FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an example of a
location triggered home evaluation application 200B that is
external to a terminal 209, which accesses the functionality of the
location triggered home evaluation application 200B. That is, a
user device or a tablet may act as a terminal 209 where through
either web browsing or mobile application technology the
application 200B is configured to run in the functional context of
a server or host. Further, the application 200B at least includes
the location determination module 204, a map image module 206, and
an application programmable interface (API) 207. Furthermore, the
application 200B may include any of the other modules listed in
FIG. 2A. Again, it should be understood that the same functionality
may be provided using fewer, greater, or differently named
modules.
[0044] In FIG. 2B, the map image module 206 includes program code
for accessing mapping functions for displaying a map image
corresponding to the physical location and geographical area. The
map image module 206 works in conjunction with the user interface
module 205 in managing the depiction of the map images indicative
of the subject property and at least one of the comparable
properties, as well as the capability to display the boundaries of
a geographic area based on a default or custom neighborhood.
Further, the map image module 206 may display on the display device
the subject property and corresponding properties within the
defined geographic area with demarcations of the defined geographic
area (i.e., highlighted boundaries) as the neighborhood of
interest. The neighborhood may be defined by inclusion within a
user-defined shape, exclusion of a user-defined shape from a
previously defined geographic area, the set of properties within a
given distance from a subject property, properties corresponding to
a tract or adjacent tracts, or properties currently displayed on a
map image (which may be manipulated as desired, prior to user
indication to lock in the defined area).
[0045] The map image module 206 may further include program code
for neighborhood customization and corresponding valuation and work
in conjunction with the user interface module 205 to implement
these features. That is, the map image module 206 may provides
interfaces for receiving input pursuant to defining a geographic
area to provide custom identification of a neighborhood subject to
automated valuation. This allows the user to interact with the map
image using the physical location of an electronic device as
determined by the location determination module 204 to provide
appropriate input that generates a shape or the like defining the
geographic area, which identifies the customized neighborhood. Once
the neighborhood is defined, the application 200B uses the property
data access module 201 and regression module 202 to identify the
best comparable properties for a subject property within the
defined geographic area. Accordingly, the map image can be updated
to display on a display device the comparable properties, typically
along with the subject property and with indications of the defined
geographic area/neighborhood on the map image. In addition, the map
image module 206 may work in conjunction with the user interface
module to display the identified subject property and pool of
comparable properties in a tabular or grid format, with various
sorting according to the property characteristics, economic
distance, geographical distance, time, etc., and further, whereby
selecting a property within the grid would cause an immediate
manipulation of the displayed map.
[0046] The API module 207 is configured to communicate directly
with other applications, modules, models, devices, and other
sources through both physical and virtual interfaces. The API
module 207 manages the dispatching and receipt of information in
relation to the above sources and sources external to the
application along with integrating the application 200A with other
applications and drivers, as needed per operating system.
[0047] FIGS. 3A-B are block diagrams illustrating examples of a
system in which a location triggered home evaluation application
operates. Specifically, FIG. 3A is block diagram illustrating an
example of a system 350A in which the location triggered home
evaluation applications 300a-c operate. FIG. 3A further illustrates
several devices 310a-c, each having the location triggered home
evaluation applications 300a-c installed thereon (see also FIG.
2A-B). The devices 310a-c are preferably tablet computers, but may
alternatively be any of the computer systems described above. The
network 340 over which the devices 310a-c (through their
interfaces, which are not shown) communicate is preferably a
cellular network; however, it may alternatively be any conventional
networking technology. For instance, the network may be any of the
technologies of cellular network, global area network, wireless
local area networks, wide area networks, local area networks, or
combinations thereof, but is not limited thereto. Further, the
interfaces of the devices 310a-c may be any interface suited for
input and output of communication data, whether that communication
is visual, auditory, electrical, transitive, or the like.
[0048] FIG. 3B is an alternative where client devices 309a-c may
respectively access a device 310d (see also FIG. 2A-B), preferably
through direct application linking, with the device 310d providing
the location triggered home evaluation application 300d for access
by the client devices 309a-c. In this embodiment, the device 310d
is preferably a server providing application access to and
computing power for use by client devices 309a-c (i.e. tablets with
the comparable properties analysis application not installed
thereon). For example, the user devices 309a-c may be configured
with a web browser application, with the location triggered home
evaluation application 300d configured to run in the context of the
functionality of the browser application. This configuration may
also implement a network architecture wherein the user devices
309a-c provide, share, and rely upon the location triggered home
evaluation application 300d functionality. This would reduce the
resource requirements on the client devices and enhance efficiency
of the system 350B. However, as another alternative, the
functionality of the location triggered home evaluation application
300d may be divided between the client devices 309a-c and the
server 310d, where the functions may be located separately on any
device and accessed through distributed computing, such that the
functionality is provided for, shared, and relied upon by other
devices. Finally, of course, a single computing device may be
independently configured to include the entire functionality of the
location triggered home evaluation application 300d.
[0049] Additionally, as illustrated in FIGS. 3A-B, market resources
320 are shown as a singular block in the figure, but it should be
understood that the singular block represents a variety of
resources, including financial intuition databases, MLS listings,
GIS data, or resources compiled by an information services provider
(e.g. tax assessors, other appraising services, and the like).
Further, market resources 320 are typically accessed externally for
use by the applications 300a-d (and their respective property data
access modules 201), since the amount of property data is rather
voluminous, and since the application is configured to allow access
to multiple loan databases and multiple auto resource databases.
The applications 300a-d access and retrieve the market data from
these resources in support of location triggered home
evaluation.
[0050] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of a
location triggered home evaluation process 400. This example of a
location triggered home evaluation process 400 is an operational
narrative of the location triggered home evaluation application
200A where a user employs a tablet PC while on location at a
prospect property (the subject property).
[0051] Thus, after the user turns the tablet PC on, an input is
received that indicates the selection 401 of an icon that opens the
application 200A. Upon opening, the application 200A prompts 402 a
user, through a pop-up or other means, to indicate whether the user
wants to initiate a location determination by a tablet PC's GPS
feature (or other location based technology). The application 200A
receives and evaluates 403 the user input and proceeds according to
the following logic: 1) If the user chooses not to initiate a
location determination, then the application 200A permits 409 open
user operation of the application features or 2) if the user
chooses to initiate a location determination, then the application
200A uses the location determination module 204 and tablet PC's GPS
feature to determine 404 the physical location of the electronic
device. With the physical location acquired, the application 200A
correlates 405 the physical location with addressed information.
Specifically, the physical location and signature thereof (GPS
coordinates) are matched with at least one individual postal
address from an address database, which may be stored on the tablet
PC.
[0052] Once the at least one individual postal address is acquired,
the application 200A performs 406 a confirmation operation to
confirm that the correct address was chosen for the GPA
coordinates. One example of a confirmation operation is to prompt
the user with the at least one individual postal address. If
multiple addresses are found to correlate to the GPS coordinates,
than multiple addresses may be displayed. After user review of the
automatic address suggestions by the application 200A, the user may
via the user interface module 205 select one of the suggested
addresses or choose to input a custom address. Based on the user's
instruction, the application 200A associates an address with the
GPS coordinates, label this combination as the identified subject
property to be evaluated, and provide the appropriate mapping and
analytical tools for evaluation. Specifically, once the subject
property is correctly identified, the application generates 407
property information based on the identified subject property. That
is, the application may search and retrieve appraisal information
that is relative the identified subject property and stored on a
memory of the tablet PC and display the appraisal information in a
usable manner through the user interface module 205. The appraisal
information should include a comparable properties list where each
comparable property was determined to be appropriate for the
subject property by the regression module 204. After generation,
the appraisal information is used by the application 200A to
perform 408 an evaluation using the appraisal information of the
subject property. The application then presents a user interface
that permits 409 user operations of the application features and
manipulation of the subject property evaluation.
[0053] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating another example of a
location triggered home evaluation process 500. This example of a
location triggered home evaluation process 500 is an operational
example of the location triggered home evaluation application 200B
stored on a desktop computer that employs the application 200B to
locate a user device at a prospect property (the subject
property).
[0054] Thus, after the desktop computer initially opens the
application 200B, the desktop computer establishes 501 a connection
with the user device. The application 200B then uses the location
determination module 204 and the connection with the user device to
determine 502 the physical location of the user device. With the
physical location acquired, the application 200B correlates 503 the
physical location with addressed information. Specifically, the
physical location and signature thereof (GPS coordinates) are
automatically matched with at least one individual postal address
from an address database, which may be stored within a set of
market resources 320 that are external to the desktop computer.
Once the at least one individual postal address is acquired, the
application 200B performs a confirmation operation to verify that
the automatic address suggestion (the at least one individual
postal address) was correctly chosen for the GPA coordinates. After
confirmation of the automatic address suggestion, the application
200B labels this combination as the identified subject property.
With the subject property identified, the application 200B requests
and receives 504 appraisal information related to the identified
subject property from market resources 320 external to the desktop
computer using a regression analysis. The desktop computer with
then display 505 through the user interface module 205 and the map
image module 206 the results of the regression analysis and subject
evaluation while providing the application features.
[0055] Alternatively, the application 200B may request and retrieve
504 appraisal information related to the identified subject
property from local memory or other desktop terminals, as the
request and retrieval 504 operation is not limited to external
market resources 320. Further, either application 200A or B may use
a hybrid of generating and retrieving appraisal information.
Furthermore, regardless of the source, the appraisal information
should include a comparable properties list and when appropriate,
the comparable properties list may indicate which comparable
properties were chosen by the application (as in chosen locally on
the tablet PC or desktop computer using local resources) or by the
regression model (as in selected externally to the application
using external resources). That is, when the application 200A
generates 406 property information locally and independent of
external sources, the list should clearly indicate that the
comparable properties were selected by the application's 200A
regression module 204 (app-chosen), and when the external market
resources 320 and the models that govern those resources provided
the property information, the list should clearly indicate that the
comparable properties were selected by the regression models of
those resources (model chosen).
[0056] Embodiments of the described produce and provide methods and
apparatus for a model for providing real-time location-based
promotions to a vehicle purchaser without the need for additional
post-purchase decision conversations and signing ceremonies.
Although the described is detailed considerably above with
reference to certain embodiments thereof, the invention may be
variously embodied without departing from the spirit or scope of
the invention. Therefore, the following claims should not be
limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein in
any way.
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